12. People most definitely don’t know when their time will come. Like fish tragically caught in a net or like birds trapped in a snare, so are human beings caught in a time of tragedy that suddenly falls to them.
13. I also observed the following example of wisdom under the sun—it impressed me greatly:
14. There was a small town with only a few residents. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and waged a terrible war against it.
15. Now there lived in that town a poor but wise man who saved everyone by his wisdom. But no one remembered that poor man.